“How do you not lose your voice?” and other queries…

It seems lots of people are reading the blog, which is so cool…but not leaving comments, and instead going to rockscarlet.com and sending me an email with questions. That’s OK, but really it’s easier and quicker to leave a comment here 🙂

Don’t be shy, I love to hear from everyone! So here’s the questions I’ve received over the past couple of weeks, I’m going to answer these over a few different posts.

How do you sing like that and not lose your voice?

Do you give vocal lessons?

I hear you play benefits, why don’t you write political songs?

Do you ever write love songs?

Are you a (fill in the blank with a belief system)?

I’ll do the first two together: I don’t lose my voice because I’ve taken a lot of vocal training, I practice a lot, and I use a variety of vocal techniques – about 75% of which (when done correctly) are non-threatening to the voice. No “cookie monster” vocals. 😀

If you’re a singer, proper diaphragmatic breathing will take good care of you! 🙂

Intense rock vocals do require some more challenging techniques, and it’s true that if you don’t do them correctly you can lose your voice. Lots of great vocalists have damaged their voices at one time or another – but with good technique and by taking extra care of your body, you can keep your voice strong most of the time even through a lot of shows; more about that extra care in a minute.

And, sorry, I don’t give vocal lessons at the present, but I have in the past, and may do so again sometime in the future.

I really recommend that every singer take lessons at least once in a while. I have both given and taken lessons – sometimes in the same week! (I think my old vocal teaching outline is still posted someplace online, if I remember where, I’ll post a link).

To be able to consistently do what some jokingly call “vocal acrobatics” 🙂 I keep my vocal chords happy, relatively clear and flexible. I drink a lot of water, but avoid alcohol and caffeine, which both dry out the vocal chords. White flour gums up the works. I avoid animal products, especially dairy; these coat your throat and chords in such a way as to be very limiting when it comes to singing.

Special note: The rest of the band don’t have any reason to avoid alcohol, so go ahead and buy ’em all a drink next time you see us.:D

No, I’m not a monk, but I love to sing and for a vocalist, our body is our instrument, so… pour me another water and lets rock!!!